Handy type atomizer

ABSTRACT

A rectifying section 48 is disposed between a medicine atomizing means and a nozzle. Said rectifying section 48 has a flange portion 48a fitted to the upper end side of said atomizing means, a guide cylindrical section 48b integrally provided on the inner circumference of said flange portion 48a, a dome section 48c fixed on the inner circumferential face of said guide cylindrical section 48b, and a pair of slit holes 48d installed at the corresponding position of the guide cylindrical section 48b. Said dome section 48c is composed of a largespherical section 481c and a small-spherical section 481b, wherein the large-spherical section 481c is disposed on the center axis of the guide cylindrical section 48b and is formed with a diameter by which the outer circumferential edge thereof is spaced from the inner circumferential face of the guide cylindrical section 48b. The dome section 48c is supported by a pair of stays 48e of which the two points thereof opposite each other extend in the tangential direction, wherein a slit hole 48d is provided there. Furthermore, a pair of wall sections 48f positioned forward of the slit hole 48d are provided between the large-spherical section 481c and the guide cylindrical section 48b in the axial direction of the guide cylindrical section 48b so as to be directed in the diametrical direction of the large-spherical section 481c.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a handy type atomizer and in particularrelates to a technology for improving the convenience in use thereof.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

An atomizer has been already known as an instrument used for treatingthe nose and throat, and this kind of atomizer is, for example, utilizedfor treating primary catarrh, allergic rhinitis, etc. An atomizer usedfor such a therapy is such that heat or vibration is given to liquefiedmedicine in order to atomize the same and a patient is caused to inhalethe same.

Furthermore, structural examples of these kinds of handy type atomizersare disclosed in, for example, Japanese laid-open utility modelpublications Nos. 51541 of 1983, 109545 of 1986, 75750 of 1990, etc.Generally, such a kind of atomizer is basically provided with a medicineatomizing means such as a ultrasonic vibrator, a heater, etc., a nozzlefor discharging the atomized medicine outside, a feeding means forsending the atomized medicine toward said nozzle, for example, anelectric fan.

With an atomizer having such a structure, medicine is usually atomizedto be of several microns and is discharged through a nozzle. However, atthis time, the following technical themes have been pointed out in theconventional atomizers.

That is, with conventional atomizers including the abovementioneddisclosed in the above publications, they are constructed so thatmedicine atomized by a medicine atomizing means is discharged outside asit is. However, for example, since the atomized quantity of medicine isvery little immediately after commencing the use, the medicine containedin an air flow coming from a feeding means becomes remarkably thin.Generally, these kinds of atomizers are provided with a timer and areconstructed so that the same is able to operate during the period oftime set by the timer. Therefore, if the timer period is set, includinga thin state of medicine, there was a shortcoming where the medicinedoes not display its effect to the degree expected.

In this case, for example, although it is possible to cause a patient toinhale an appointed liquefied medicine without the inhalation of theatomized medicine commenced immediately after the use of an atomizer butsomewhat delayed an appointed duration of time. With such a means, somemedicine is uselessly consumed. The present invention was developed inview of solving these shortcomings, and it is therefore an object of theinvention to provide an atomizer which is able to uniformly disperse theatomized medicine and effectively cause a patient to inhale the same.

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION

In order to achieve the object, the invention provides an atomizercomprising a medicine atomizing means, a nozzle for discharging theatomized medicine outside, and a feeding means for sending the medicineatomized by said medicine atomizing means toward said nozzle side andfurther having an atomized medicine rectifying section which is providedbetween said medicine atomizing means and said nozzle, wherein saidrectifying section is characterized in having a guide cylindricalsection disposed between said medicine atomizing means and said nozzlewith both the ends thereof open, a dome section having a roughlyspherical inner face, which is disposed on the center axis of said guidecylindrical section so that the outer circumferential edge of the domesection is spaced from the inner circumferential face of said guidecylindrical section, and a slit hole which introduces an air flow comingfrom said feeding means from the tangential direction of said domesection into said guide cylindrical section.

According to the atomizer constructed as described above, an atomizedmedicine rectifying section is provided between the atomizing means andthe nozzle, and since the rectifying section has a guide cylindricalsection disposed between the atomizing means and the nozzle with boththe ends thereof open, a dome section having a roughly spherical innerface, which is disposed on the center axis of said guide cylindricalsection so that the outer circumferential edge of the dome section isspaced from the inner circumferential face of said guide cylindricalsection, and a slit hole which introduces an air flow coming from saidfeeding means from the tangential direction of said dome section intosaid guide cylindrical section, the medicine atomized by said atomizingmeans is firstly brought into collision with the inner surface of saiddome section before being discharged from the nozzle to outside.

At this time, since the inner surface of the dome section is maderoughly spherical, the atomized medicine brought into collision with theinner surface thereof is reflected toward the center of the sphere,whereby the same is mixed with the atomized medicine which moves upward.And as the dome section is filled with the atomized medicine, theatomized medicine is caused to flow out, bypassing at the lower end ofthe dome section, and is guided to the nozzle along with an air flowcoming from the feeding means introduced from the tangential directionof the dome section via the slit hole.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a disassembled perspective view showing a preferred embodimentof an atomizer according to the invention,

FIG. 2 is an front elevational view of the atomizer shown in FIG. 1 withits cap removed.

FIG. 3 is a longitudinally sectional view of FIG. 2,

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a rectifying member of the atomizershown in FIG. 1.

FIG. 5 is a plan view showing the top surface in FIG. 4.

FIG. 6 is a plan view showing the bottom surface in FIG. 5.

FIG. 7 is a longitudinally sectional view in FIG. 5.

FIG. 8 is an enlarged view showing major parts in FIG. 3.

FIG. 9 is a block diagram showing a control circuit of the atomizershown in FIG. 1.

PREFERRED EMBODIMENT OF THE INVENTION

A detailed description will be given of a preferred embodiment of theinvention with reference to the accompanying drawings. FIG. 1 throughFIG. 9 show a preferred embodiment of an atomizer according to theinvention. In the same drawings, an embodiment in which the invention isapplied to a handy type is shown. An atomizer in these drawings has amedicine atomizing means 10, a nozzle 12 for discharging medicineatomized by the atomizing means 10, and a gripping casing 14. Saidcasing 14 has a small-diametered cylindrical section 14a, alarge-diametered cylindrical section 14b, and a bottom 14c and is formedso as to have a bottom with the upper end side thereof open and furtherhas a roughly gourd-shaped cross-section which connects thesmall-diametered cylindrical section 14a with the large-diameteredcylindrical section 14b.

Said atomizing means 10 is incorporated at the large-diameteredcylindrical section 14b side of the casing 10, and has a piezoelectricvibrator 10a and a vibration liquid 10b. The piezoelectric vibrator 10ais fixed at the lower end of a hollow cylindrical body 18 supported atthe cover member 16 which closes the open end of the casing 14 via aprotection sheet 19 and an attaching plate 20 so that the lower end ofsaid hollow cylindrical body 18 is closed. The vibration liquid 10b is,for example, distilled water and is sealed in the hollow cylindricalbody 18 by adhering a film-like sheet 22 to the intermediate position ofthe hollow cylindrical body 18, so that the same is brought into contactwith the protection sheet 19 secured on the upper surface of thepiezoelectric vibrator 10a.

The hollow cylindrical body 18 is fixed at one end (the large-diameteredcylindrical section 14b side of the casing 14) of the cover member 16formed to be roughly gourd-shaped, so that the upper end thereofprotrudes upward, and a through-hole 24 is formed at the other end (thesmall-diametered cylindrical section 14b side of the casing 14) of thecover member 16. The rotating axis of a motor is inserted into thisthrough-hole 24 from below, and an impeller 28 is fitted into theinserted rotating axis from above.

The motor 26 and impeller 28 have diameters which are smaller than theinner diameter of the small-diametered cylindrical section 14a of thecasing 14 and they constitute a feeding means which creates an air flowfor sending the atomized medicine toward the nozzle 12 side. Power issupplied to the motor 26 via a control circuit mounted on the substrate31.

A medicine dish 32 for accommodating medicine is fitted to the inside ofthe part where the hollow cylindrical body 18 protrudes upward of thecover member 16. A dish 32 according to this preferred embodiment, asconcretely shown in FIG. 3, has a bottom inclined downward, wherein agelled substance 34 intervenes between the bottom and the film-likesheet 22. The gelled substrate 34 is to increase the atomizingefficiency by improving the transmission state of vibrations, and iscomposed of a polymer, a dampening agent, water, a preserving agent anda surface-active agent, etc.

On the other hand, one large-diametered through-hole 14d is formed atthe front side of the gripping case 14, and two small-diameteredthrough-holes 14e are formed at the upper side of the gripping casing14. Furthermore, one circular through-hole 14f is formed at the sidelower end of the small-diametered cylindrical section 14a of the casing14. An operating switch 38 supported by the substrate 36 inserted intothe rear side thereof is inserted into the large-diametered through-hole14d, and a switch cover 40 is attached to the inserted operating switch40.

An indication lamp 40 supported at the substrate 40 is disposed at therear side of the small-diametered through-hole 14e, and this indicationlamp 40 is composed of two light emitting diodes, wherein the two lightemitting diodes are provided so as to face the small-diameteredthrough-holes 14e via the cover 42. Furthermore, one of the two lightemitting diodes blinks corresponding to turning on or off of theoperating switch 38, and the other is lit when it is necessary for thesecondary battery to be charged.

A connector 44 is attached to the rear side of the circular through-hole14f, and an adapter 88 to be connected to the commercial power supply isinserted into this connector 44. With the above construction, theoperating switch 38 is disposed at the part which connects thesmall-diametered cylindrical section 14a of the casing 14 with thelarge-diametered cylindrical section 14b and the indication lamp 40 isprovided in the vicinity of this operating switch 38.

The cover member 16 is fitted to and fixed at the upper open end of thecasing 14 so that a part of the upper side thereof protrudes therefrom.A transparent cover 46 is detachably attached from above to theprotruded part thereof. The cover 46 is composed of a transparent bodythe lower end of which is open and the cross-section of which is formedto roughly gourd-shaped equivalently to the casing 14, and has asmall-diametered circumferential wall section 46a, a large-diameteredcircumferential wall section 46b respectively having diameterscorresponding to the small-diametered cylindrical section 14a of thecasing 14 and large-diametered cylindrical section 46b, and a ceilingsection 46c.

A circular through-hole 46d which passes through the ceiling section 46cis provided at the ceiling section 46c on the center of thelarge-diametered circumferential wall section 46b, at the same time anozzle attaching port 46e protruding upward is provided at thesurrounding thereof, and an annular protrusion 46f protruding downwardis provided outside the nozzle attaching port 46e.

Furthermore, a semicircular opening part 46g is made at the upper sideof the small-diametered circumferential wall section 46a, and a circularledge 46h which is linked with the inner surface of the small-diameteredcircumferential wall section 46a is formed at the lower end innercircumferential side of the opening section 46g. And a circularthrough-hole 46i is caused to pass through and is formed at the centerof the ledge 46h, wherein a plurality of slit holes 46j are secured atthe outer circumference of this circular through-hole 46i, and anarcuate wall 46k of which the upper end is linked with the ceilingsection 46c is formed at the deep side of the ledge 46h. Furthermore, asmall-diametered through-hole 46l is secured at the ceiling section 46ccorresponding to the center of the circular through-hole 46i.

On the other hand, a rectifying section 48 of atomized medicine isattached from above to the hollow cylindrical body 18. This rectifyingmember 48 is, as concretely shown in FIG. 4 through FIG. 7, composed ofa flange section 48a fitted to the upper end side of the hollowcylindrical body 18, a guide cylindrical section 48b integrally formedat the inner circumference of this flange section 48a with both the endsthereof open, the upper end side of which is fitted to the annularprotrusion 46f, a dome section 48c fixed on the inner circumferentialface of this guide cylindrical section 48b, and a pair of slit holes 48dsecured at the position to which the guide cylindrical section 48bcorresponds.

In this preferred embodiment, the dome section 48c consists of alarge-spherical part 481c formed to be semi-spherical, and asmall-spherical part 482c protruding from the upper end of thislarge-spherical part 481c. The large-spherical part 481c is disposed onthe center axis of the guide cylindrical section 48b, is formed with adiameter with which the outer circumferential edge thereof is spacedfrom the inner circumferential face of the guide cylindrical section48b, and is supported by a pair of stays 48e of which the two pointsopposite each other extend in the tangential direction, at which slitholes 48d are provided.

A pair of wall sections 48f positioned forward of the slit holes 48d areprovided between the large-spherical section 481c and the guidecylindrical section 48b along the axial direction of the guidecylindrical section 48b, being directed to the diametrical direction ofthe large-spherical section 481c. Furthermore, in this preferredembodiment, although the wall sections 48f are provided along the axialdirection of the guide cylindrical section 48b, and are opposite theslit holes 48d, for example, the upper side thereof may be inclined in adirection along which the same is spaced from the slit hole 48d. On theother hand, an air flow regulating member 50 is mounted in the openingsection 46g. Said air flow regulating member 50 is formed to becap-like, a filter 52 is disposed at the inner circumferential face ofthe circumferential wall 50a thereof, and a hole 50b and slide grip 50cwhich extend in the circumferential direction are provided at thecircumferential wall 50a. Furthermore, a small-diametered protrusion 50dprotruding upward is secured at the center of the ceiling section. Thisair flow regulating member 50 is positioned and mounted by fitting thesmall-diametered protrusion 50d to the small-diametered through-hole 461of the cover 46, whereby the air flow created by the impeller 28 can beadjusted by changing the length of the part where the hole 50d isexposed to the opening section 46g, by causing the air flow regulatingmember 50 to move in the circumferential direction via the slide grip50c.

In this preferred embodiment, the nozzle 12 is composed of a transparentrubber-based member and is attached by fitting the base part sidethereof to the nozzle attaching portion 46e of the cover 46. At thistime, it is possible to optionally select the discharging direction ofthe atomized medicine by changing the fitting state of the base part.Still furthermore, in the case of this preferred embodiment, since thenozzle 12 is made of a soft rubber-based member, it is also possible tochange the discharging direction by causing the nozzle 12 to rotate in astate where the same is fitted to the nozzle attaching port 46e.

A notched part 46m which is able to be fitted to the cap 54 attachedfrom above the cover 46 is formed at the outer circumferential edge ofthe ceiling part 4c of the cover 46. The cap 54 has a circumferentialwall part 54a of which the cross-section is similar to that of thecasing 14, and a ceiling part 54b. A concave part 54c which is able tobe fitted to a roughly gourd-shaped convex part 14g secured at the lowerend face of the casing 14.

A switch 70 is provided between the gripping casing 14 and the cover 46.Said switch 70 is, as clearly shown in FIG. 8, composed of a switchaccommodating section 72 provided at the cover member 16 which closesthe upper end opening of the gripping casing 14, a switch operatingsection 74 formed on the inner circumferential face of the cover 46, anda switch body 76 accommodated in said switch accommodating section 72.

The switch accommodating section 72 is disposed in the vicinity of thepart where the small-diametered cylindrical section 14a of the grippingcasing 14 is connected to the large-diametered cylindrical part 14b andis formed to be square-tubular with both the ends thereof open. Theswitch operating section 74 is provided at the switch accommodatingsection 72 corresponding to the position of the section 72, and awaterproof cover 78 which covers the outer circumference of the switchaccommodating section 72 is provided at the lower end of the switchoperating section 74. The switch body 76 is composed of a switchmechanism 76a having a pair of always open contacts which are spacedfrom each other in a constant state, a rod 76b which is interlocked withthis switch mechanism, and a spring 76c which always presses the rod 76bupward.

If, with the switch 70 constructed as described above, the rod 76b ispressed down against a pressing force of the spring 76c by the switchoperating section 74, the contacts of the switch mechanism section 76are electrically connected. Furthermore, the switch 70 is not limited tosuch a mechanical type as described above, for example, an optical typesuch as a photocoupler may be employed. FIG. 9 is a block diagram of acontrol circuit mounted in a substrate 31 of the abovementionedatomizer. The control circuit shown in the same drawing has a switch 70which is connected to the connector 44 in series, a constant voltagecircuit 80 which is connected in parallel to the switch 70, a fan motordrive circuit 82, a boosting circuit 84, a voltage monitoring circuit,and a switch control circuit 86 connected to the output side of theconstant voltage circuit 80 via the operating switch 38.

A motor 26 of the feeding means is connected to the output side of thefan motor circuit 38. A piezoelectric vibrator 10a and a display 40 areconnected to the output side of the boosting circuit 84. The display 40is connected to the output side of the voltage monitoring circuit 85. Atimer circuit 87 which is able to set the operating time of the atomizeris connected to the switch control circuit 86. An appointed directcurrent voltage is supplied to the connector 44 via an AC adapter 88 inwhich a secondary battery is incorporated. The switch 70 operates onlywhen the detachable cover 46 is mounted at the gripping casing 14 inorder to supply power to the motor of the medicine atomizing means andthe feeding means.

Furthermore, with a handy type atomizer constructed as described above,medicine is placed in a medicine dish 32 and the operating switch 38 isturned on, whereby vibrations of the piezoelectric vibrator 10a aretransmitted to the medicine via a vibration liquid 10b, the liquefiedmedicine is atomized, and the atomized medicine is discharged throughthe nozzle 12 along with an air flow created by the impeller 28.

At this time, with the atomizer according to the preferred embodiment,since a rectifying section 48 for atomized medicine is provided betweenthe atomizing means 10 and the nozzle 12, the actions and effects whichwill be described in detail are easily obtained. That is, since therectifying section 48 is equipped with a guide cylindrical section 48bdisposed between the medicine atomizing means 10 and the nozzle 12 withboth the ends thereof open, a dome section 48c having a roughlyspherical inner face, which is disposed on the center axis in said guidecylindrical section 48b so that the outer circumferential edge thereofis spaced from the inner circumferential face of the guide cylindricalsection 48b, and a slit hole 48d for introducing an air flow coming fromthe feeding means (motor 26, impeller 28) from the tangential directionof the dome section 48c into the guide cylindrical section 46b, themedicine atomized by the medicine atomizing means is firstly introducedinto the guide cylindrical section 48b and is brought into collisionwith the inner face of the dome section 48.

At this time, since the inner face of the dome section 48c is formed tobe roughly spherical, the atomized medicine brought into collision withthe inner face of the dome section is reflected toward to the center ofthe sphere and is mixed with the atomized medicine which goes up frombelow. And as the dome section 48c is filled with the atomized medicine,the atomized medicine is caused to flow out, bypassing at the lower endof the dome section, and is guided into the nozzle 12 along with an airflow introduced from the tangential direction of the dome section 48cvia the slit hole 48d and coming from the feeding means.

Accordingly, for example, even when the atomized quantity of medicinefrom the medicine atomizing means 10 is very little immediately aftercommencing the use, the medicine discharged through the nozzle 12 doesnot become thin, and it is possible to uniformly disperse the atomizedmedicine discharged by the nozzle 12. Furthermore, the above preferredembodiment is based on a case where the invention is applied to a handytype atomizer. However, the invention is not limited to this type. Forexample, it is applicable to an installation type atomizer.

Furthermore, in the above preferred embodiment, although a medicineatomizing means 10 is composed of a piezoelectric vibrator 10a and avibration liquid 10b, the invention is not limited to this. For example,the atomizing means 10 may be a heating means such as a heater.

Industrial feasibility

As concretely described in the above preferred embodiment, with anatomizer according to the invention, since it is possible to dischargeatomized medicine in a uniformly dispersed state at all the times, it ispossible to effectively display the effects of medicine without anyloss.

What is claimed is:
 1. An atomizer having a liquefied medicine atomizing means, a nozzle for discharging the atomized medicine outside and a feed means for sending out the medicine atomized by said atomizing means toward a nozzle side,and comprising an atomized medicine rectifying section which is provided between said medicine atomizing means and said nozzle, and being characterized in that: said rectifying section has a guide cylindrical section disposed between said atomizing means and said nozzle with both the ends thereof open, a dome section having a roughly spherical inner face, which is disposed on the center axis of said guide cylindrical section so that the outer circumferential edge thereof is spaced from an inner circumferential face of said guide cylindrical section, and a slit hole provided in said guide cylindrical section for introducing an air flow from said feed means from a tangential direction of said dome section into said guide cylindrical section. 